Sony SL-F30 Betamax - Fixing common issues

This ones a little bit different insofar as I wanted a little break from being so busy with work and researching and working on several repairs on more unfamiliar kit and so I thought I'd sort Tim's Sony SL-F30 Betamax - a machine I now have a lot of experience with.

The F30 dates from 1984 and answered a common criticism that Betamax machines were bulky - this machine is just 80mm's tall. It was a basic machine with an infrared remote control. The Sony C9 was really the first 'slim-line' Betamax.

Lots of common issues dealt with in this one from the power supply capacitors to the upper drum, looking at the hall-effect and the loading leaf switch and the common PCB damage these suffer with in transit too plus a front loading system issue which is becoming quite common on these machines.

Hope you liked this one - release a day early as it's Easter and you might be glad to dip in and out of this one over the holiday period. It would be fantastic if you'd consider subscribing too - it really does help the channel.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
03:14 First checks and tests
10:37 Damage to the YC-31 board
13:09 Deck seizing issues
18:21 Repairing the YC-31 board
21:44 Testing the YC-31 board repairs
26:21 Resolving poor loading of the front loading system
27:46 Front flap and rear jack plastic surround
28:46 Run through of jobs to be done
29:10 Upper drum resurfacing
29:59 Front panel removal
31:22 Removing the FU-25 board
32:14 Installing the front flap on the SL-F30
34:20 Replacing the switches
38:50 Power supply removal and capacitor changing
46:01 Final testing and conclusion


#betamax #sony #slf30